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Last week I wrote about the effect that lack of the redevelopment money would have on the build out of the Orange County Great. But the question also came up on what effect the lack of redevelopment funds would have on building affordable housing in Irvine. So today’s post is a brief look at affordable housing in Irvine.

As I wrote last week, “[R]edevelopment funds are a relatively new invention in Irvine. The redevelopment district was built to aid with the development of the Orange County Great Park. Redevelopment money generated from this redevelopment district was to be used for the Great Park development”. This means that redevelopment funds have never been an important source for building affordable housing in Irvine. Instead, as the housing element chart for affordable rental units built in Irvine shows, other means were used [See the Funding Source(s) column in the chart found below.]. These include bonds, grants, loans, and tax credits. These various options might be from federal, state, county, or city governments. In addition, developer funding, deferred developer fees, and partnerships with developers are sometimes used. The city partnerships with developers includes partnerships with The Irvine Company as well as non-profit developers such as Jamboree Housing, Bridge Housing, and Irvine Housing Opportunities, Inc. In addition, with the goal of providing ownership of permanent affordable housing as well as affordable rental housing in Irvine, the city started the Irvine Community Land Trust in 2005.